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Job Description

Overview

The Welder position on the TIGER Team at Trident Maritime Systems in Newport News, VA involves executing structural and pipe welding for U.S. Navy vessels, ensuring high-quality standards while adhering to safety, quality, cost, and schedule objectives.

Responsibilities

  • Perform tack, fillet, and full-penetration welds on carbon steel and alloy materials.
  • Execute welding in all positions using SMAW, FCAW, GMAW, GTAW.
  • Meet nondestructive test acceptance: VT, MT, UT, RT.
  • Support schedule-driven execution.
  • Operate safely in elevated, restricted, and confined space environments.
  • Maintain equipment and complete arc maintenance tasks.
  • Participate in morning standups and readiness reporting.
  • Uphold all TMS, our customer and NAVSEA process controls.
  • Support rework elimination and first-time-quality strategies.

Requirements

  • Minimum three years welding experience or graduation from AWS-accredited welding school.
  • Ability to pass respirator fit testing and physical agility assessment.
  • Able to work assigned shifts, overtime, heights, and confined spaces.
  • Able to kneel, squat, bend, stoop, crawl, climb, and lift a minimum of 40 lbs.
  • Able to work in all weather environments.
  • Must pass background investigation and drug screening.
  • Must pass TMS procedural testing and training.

Additional Information

  • Location: Trident Maritime Systems – Newport News, VA
  • Reports To: Construction Manager – TIGER Team
  • Effective Date: Immediate Start
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How this job compares in Newport News, VA

Pay in context

This employer didn't publish a rate. For reference, welding jobs in Newport News, VA currently run a median of $31/hr in our index, with the middle half of them falling between $29–$41/hr across 8 postings with published pay. That median is a reasonable floor to anchor on when a recruiter asks what you're looking for.

The local market in Newport News, VA

We're tracking 14 other active welding openings in Newport News, VA right now, from 6 different employers. 3 of them were added in the last week. Across Virginia as a whole we're tracking 178 other active welding openings from 105 employers. A metro this active generally means you have real leverage — employers here are competing for the same welders. Browse every welding job in Newport News, or widen the search to Virginia.

Trident Maritime Systems currently has 2 other openings live in Virginia, which is usually a sign of either steady growth or steady turnover — worth asking which in the interview.

The most active employers in Virginia at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are West Fraser (14), HII (8), and Colonna's Shipyard (8). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

Within Virginia, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Verona at $33/hr, Norfolk at $32/hr, and Newport News at $31/hr. Newport News is among them.

What you'll be running

This posting calls for MIG, TIG, Stick, and Flux-Core work. MIG (GMAW) feeds a continuous wire electrode through a shielding-gas nozzle. It lays down metal fast and is forgiving on clean material, which is why it dominates production and light fabrication work. TIG (GTAW) uses a non-consumable tungsten electrode with filler added by hand, giving the operator the most control of any process. It is slow, demanding, and the standard for stainless, aluminum, and anything where the bead has to look as good as it holds.

Certifications this posting mentions

  • NAVSEA — the Naval Sea Systems Command welding standards used on US Navy shipbuilding and repair. Qualification is yard-specific and typically comes with a background check.

Read straight from this posting's text. Confirm the exact qualification the employer wants before you test — requirements vary by shop even under the same code.

Similar openings near Newport News, VA

Pay figures are medians computed from live postings in the Welding Pros index, not from survey data, and they move as employers post. Welder figures were last recalculated when this page was built.